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Friday, February 14, 2014

Sepia Saturday: Festival Parade

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt of a busy street
scene demands a photo of a scene no less busy.
What could be busier than a town’s main drag on parade day?

Float sponsored by Independent Food Dealers
of Winchester

? - Republic Oil Refining Co.

In April 1948, my mother made the 2-hour trip along US route 11 from Dayton, Virginia to Winchester just to see a parade. The same parade still entices people from all over the state and beyond to join the throngs and head to Winchester, but today that drive from Dayton would be just a little over an hour on I-81.

In 1948, Momma was still a student at Shenandoah College & Conservatory in Dayton, Virginia. Aside from enjoying the break from sleepy ol’ Dayton, the students went to the parade to support their friend Betty Kyle. All the colleges in Virginia were invited to send a representative to serve as an Apple Blossom Princess.

Betty Kyle
photo scanned from The Arrowhead
April 1948

According to the school newspaper “The Arrowhead,” Betty Kyle was the obvious choice because of her leadership as president of the Women’s Student Government Association. Besides, she was a pro at princessing having worn many crowns as part of the May Queen’s court throughout her years at SCC.

Sealtest float sponsored by Southern Dairies

The festival began as a one-day event featuring a fireman’s parade that showcased fire trucks and the latest equipment. But since 1924 it has grown to a 10-day event with a Grand Feature Parade, Firefighters Parade, midway, carnival, pageants (including the crowning of the Apple Blossom Queen), dances, concerts, and most recently charity races and walks.

Possibly the VMI Regimental Band

The year Momma was there was the big turning point in the history of the Apple Blossom Festival. Interest had waned, but all discussions of abandoning the festival ended when a new volunteer with ties to Hollywood scheduled celebrities to attend and to serve as Grand Marshall for the parade. In 1948 that star was Bing Crosby.

Who wouldn’t want to go to that parade?

I have a confession.
I wasn’t absolutely sure these pictures were of the Apple Blossom
Festival until I decided to take a little drive myself. On Google Maps. But which street? A YouTube video gave me “Piccadilly Street”
as a clue. A long time volunteer
recalled that as a child her family stood “on the corner of Piccadilly” where
there was a hotel; her father always rented a room there in case of bad weather
so they wouldn’t miss the parade.

So I “drove” up and down Piccadilly looking for something
familiar of the architecture in the photos.
Or this clock tower.

Nothing.

Then I arrived at the corner of Piccadilly and
Cameron. And there was the hotel - The Grand George Washington Hotel.

from Google Maps
corner of Cameron & Piccadilly
Winchester, Virginia

So I made the right turn and “drove” up Cameron and there it was. The clock tower.

And the white brick building in the old photos,
although surrounding buildings are long gone.

So I have my answer.

from Google Maps

Momma must have stood on Cameron Street across from that white brick building and watched for her friend Betty Kyle atop a
float. Maybe she
even waved to Bing Crosby.

Possibly Betty Kyle - otherwise why the closeup?

I doubt anyone threw candy like they do at parades here
nowadays. But I do know what my mother
ate at the Apple Blossom Parade that April: a candy
apple.

Mary Eleanor Davis Slade April 1948

I hope you will follow the parade of blogs on the busy
street called Sepia Saturday.

Isn’t it great when you can pinpoint a place where the photo was taken exactly and picture the subject of the photo there. Well done on identifying it. That’s a ‘sweet’ picture with the toffee apple (as we call them). In UK they are an Autumn treat, at fairgrounds and on November 5th (Bonfire Night).

I can't tell from the picture if it's a caramel apple or the traditional red hard-candy coating. Caramel apples are an autumn treat here too, but I'm sure at this festival all kinds of apple goodies were and are available.

An Apple Blossom Festival sounds so attractive an event. . I love parades, bands and dressing up and have never seen anything like the wonderful floats in your photographs. Here similar parades have now fallen foul of the "health and safety" brigade! .

Oh my how fun was that. I wish that I could just hop in the car and retrace the steps, (and if I still lived in Michigan) I would be able to see things pretty much as they were. It seems that Michigan is a place that really doesn't change. Great family photos, and it was like following along at the parade too!

You didn't let the parade pass you by on this one, Wendy. The first band is a US Marine band, the second is certainly the cadet band from VMI as you thought, and the last one is a community band, maybe a fraternal group as they look like adult men instead of boys. And now you've given me a new musical genre to hunt - marching (or float riding) choirs! What did they sing for a parade?

I just love pictures of old floats, the themes are always so random. I enjoyed reading of your geographic search, what a treat to find it all in your visit. The idea of apple blossom princess is so sweet.

Allowing every college to select a princess if they wanted to participate was smart -- didn't cost the town a lot of money holding a contest. And it almost guaranteed a crowd would show up and spend money. What a great idea!

've always felt that I should visit Winchester, Virginia someday because for many years I lived in Winchester in the UK. I don't think any of the various carnivals and parades there involved floats though.

Thank you so much for posting these pictures and the story!!! I am currently going through my grandparents unmarked photo's and came across pictures of a parade. Because of the advertisements on some of the floats I believed the parade to be in Winchester, VA. I googled images of "Southern Dairies Winchester, VA" and low and behold a picture pops up of the exact same float I googled!!! I am so excited that I can now positively label the photos!!!! So, Thank you again so very much!!

It is cool!!! From what I can tell through pictures of their life they would go to Skyline Drive quite often, which isn't too far from there. We are assuming that they probably made the trip because of Bing Crosby, but we are not sure. In the background of my pictures it is clear that they were not standing near where your relative was, mine seem more out of town as their are less buildings. It has been a long journey trying to date and identify their family pictures. They have both passed and before the pictures get split up between family members I want to ensure that all of our family members have digital copies of all the pictures. I am probably about 75% done. It has been very fun especially when I find my answers from posts like this one!!! So, again I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this series of photographs easy for me!!!

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net